Brad Howard's PBR crew has been killed, and he is stranded in Vietnam, miles from base. To make it home, he must survive starvation and detection. Every Vietnamese is a potential Vietcong to be avoided. The loneliness of nights is overwhelming, so he focuses on the hardships of his poor eastern Colorado family�s experiences of the 1950s and a childhood of freedom and imagination. To survive, he must find his way back to friendly South Vietnamese soldiers or American troops. His only chance is to avoid starvation as well as all Vietnamese. They could all be Vietcong or North Vietnam soldiers. To keep from being overwhelmed by the loneliness of nights and the constant fear of detection, Brad takes his mind back to the hardships of his poor family and their experiences on the Great Plains during the 1950s, a historic time for the country when children enjoyed the freedom to roam without fear and had to use their imaginations instead of expensive toys and electronic devices to have fun, learn, and grow.